


and so it begins

by Valenae



Series: The Seven Sons of Thares [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 21:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7378231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valenae/pseuds/Valenae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The morning after Sine's disappearance, Maki and Dar begin their search.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and so it begins

“We have to find her!”

 

“Dar-”

 

“She’s out there waiting for us!”

 

“Dar-”

 

“We’re supposed to be with her! Do you even care that we’re not? How are you supposed to protect her if you insist on just sitting here and doing nothing‽”

 

The silence was palpable. The tension, a near-constant weight in my stomach throughout the last month, lodged itself in my throat.

 

“Maki-”

 

I turned and left. Left the kitchen, left the house, and ran out towards the docks. I didn’t want to hear him apologize, and I didn’t want him to take it back. He was right. He just didn’t want me to hurt. Joke’s on him, though, I’d hurt either way.

 

Sine was gone. When we woke up, both our sister and our boat were gone, and we knew she’d gone south. Unlike me, she had always lived up to her name, ‘curious one’. She was a far better explorer than I was a protector.

 

Her absence brought my fears rushing to the front of my mind from the dark corner I’d shoved them as a child. In this it was all or nothing: I would go for her and find her and bring her back safe or I would stay and do nothing. Leaving and not saving her would kill me as surely as the sickness killed Mother and the storm killed Father.

 

“Maki-”

 

Damn. I need to learn to pay attention so this stupid kid won’t sneak up on me.

 

“I’m sorry. I know that you care, all you do is care! But I don’t understand. You always loved her stories about the sela and the duna, you were always awed by the idea of snow, and you always swore you would do anything to protect us. We’ve never had much in the way of friends, so we always swore to never leave family behind. I don’t understand how there’s any turmoil.”

 

“Yes, but what if we never find her? What if she’s already hurt or,” he flinched, face crumpling, and I felt myself mirror his response, “dead? What if we go out there and get lost or hurt ourselves and never accomplish anything‽”

 

“Ever the optimist, sister,” he said, smirking, “but two can play at that game. What if we get to see the snow and the southern lights? What if we get to meet the sela and the duna and finally make some real friends? What if we do find her?” As he spoke, his voice lowered and his eyes widened. Damn him and his stupid puppy-dog eyes to the fucking wastes, they were always my weakness.

 

“Dar, how are we going to get anywhere? In case you didn’t realize, we can’t take a boat we don’t have. And even if we did have it, do you have any idea where she went besides ‘south’?”

 

His eyebrows furrowed as he bothered at one of his braids. This was so like him, ready to take off without thinking anything through. His eyes cleared suddenly, glowing with an inner brightness I had long since learned to avoid. “The Crow’s Nest!”

 

“What?”

 

“Maki, the Crow’s Nest! Sine always liked talking to traveling merchants, you know, and she said that she could always find them down at the Crow’s Nest. It’s a tavern over on _zi-Karageleporê_ , right next to Nileni’s Finger.” The light pouring from him face dimmed a bit at my furrowed brows and pursed lips. “No, no, think about it!” She wouldn’t know how to navigate any better than we do. Her stories are all about the people, not the geography of the south.

 

“She sails over to zi-Karageleporê almost every day to talk to these guys. If she really wanted to leave, she’d sail over there, go to the Crow’s Nest, get a map of Nileni from one of the merchant, then sail over to the Finger. It’s the easiest way for her to get where she’s going.

 

“Look, Maki, she might be impulsive, but she’s not stupid, she wouldn’t just sail blindly. The Finger is the closest Nileni gets to the Faran Islands, she knows that, she look out over the channel almost every day. Do you see what I’m saying?”

 

His enthusiasm was, unfortunately, both catching and virulent. “Yeah, I see it. Okay, so if we can catch a ride with someone over to zi-Karageleporê, then we’ll go to the Crow’s Nest and see if anyone can tell us anything more about Sine.”

 

“Right, and then we find someone who knows her, and tell them we’re looking for her and would really appreciate a map and a lift to Nileni. Since the merchants know Sine, and a lot of them are going to be travelling that way already, it probably won’t take much to convince them to take us. Sine always said they were so kind and helpful, and knowing our sister, they probably all adored her. Someone will be willing to help.”

 

My enthusiasm was, unfortunately, ever short-lived. “There’s so much left to chance, though, Dar. We can’t rely on others to be kind so our plan will work. People aren’t kind, and they won’t help for nothing.”

 

“Sister, ‘people’ aren’t some kind of evil annoyance hive mind. They’ll help, I know it. People _are_ nice, and if nothing else, everyone wants to help a friend.” Sometimes I really hated my brother’s stupid face. “Come on, Maki. We have to try.”

 

“You’re right about that at least, we do have to try.” Sine would never stop trying if it were one of us. “Now we need to find someone who’ll take us to zi-Karageleporê.”

 

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” Dar cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “Hey! Kare!”

 

I turned to see a short girl with knotted hair spin to look at my brother. “Nien!” she called back, beginning to run over to us.

 

“It’s so nice to see you. Let me introduce you two. Kare, this is my sister, Nien Maki. Maki, this is Kare Ilo, my constant partner from back in class.”

 

I offered my hand to shake, which she took eagerly. “I’ve heard so much about you, Maki. Dar and I somehow always managed to be matched up by instructors, so over the years I’ve gotten to know quite a bit about you and your family.”

 

I didn’t know how to respond to this. I went with, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” 

 

That was unlikely to offend her. Luckily, my brother saved me from having to continue by speaking up himself.

 

“So, Ilo, Maki and I really need to get over to zi-Karageleporê, but Sine’s out fishing with the boat. Do you think you could take us?”

 

“Uh, sure, Dar! I was just heading that way myself.” Ah, it’s so satisfying to watch someone else succumb to the puppy eyes.

 

“Thank you so much, Ilo. See, Maki, I told you someone would help us.”

 

Smug bastard.

~~~

After all the smiling small talk, I was incredibly relieved to step out of the boat. As I scanned the city, looking for the best road to take over to the Eastern Docks, Dar made our farewells.

 

“Thank you for this, Ilo. We really appreciate it.”

 

I nodded solemnly to her, knowing that without this step we would never find Sine but self-aware enough to leave the words to my brother. I set off towards the east, knowing Dar would follow and Ilo would get back in her boat and go to her real destination.

 

“Hey, wait up, sister!”

 

“Guess you need to learn to walk a bit faster, Dar,” I said, a smirk dancing over my lips.

 

I could hear Dar groan as his footsteps thumped harder on the wood of the dock. He drew up beside me and complained, “I can’t believe you made me run all the way over here, sister. How could you be so mean?”

 

I chuckled, the whiny tone so potent I couldn’t hold in my amusement.

 

“Oh, thanks a lot, sister. First you make me run, then you laugh at me.” His words were annoyed, but I could see the happiness dancing in his dark eyes. Dar always loved to make people smile.

 

“Okay,” I said, growing serious, “the Crow’s Nest is over by the Eastern Docks, where the merchants from Nileni come in. We can make it there by nightfall if we hurry.”

 

Dar nodded, understanding how serious I was. “Lead the way, Maki.”

~~~

We didn’t quite beat the sunset. It was twilight when we arrived, that grey time once the sun has set but night has not truly fallen. The air in the Crow’s Nest was vibrant and alive, making it seem bright even in the relative darkness of the moons and candles. I remember that Sine had taken us here once before, at the end of my seventeenth summer, almost five years ago exactly. Dar had been thrilled to meet Sine’s friends and hear their stories.

 

I scanned the room for any faces I recognized from that brief meeting, and my eyes rested on a selan standing by the bar, laughing with a group of mora. I leaned towards Dar and asked, pointing, “Does he look familiar to you?”

 

Dar shifted his gaze to follow my finger, eyes narrowed in the low light. I didn’t need to wait for his response to my question, as his went wide and bright in the excitement of recognition.

 

We made our way to the bar next to him. My brother folded his long limbs into a chair in a vain attempt to make himself smaller, while I held on to the advantage my height gave me standing next to the characteristically small selan. The entire group turned to us, curiosity evident in their eyes. No one travels unless they have that spark, that drive to discover, the urge Sine had.

 

The selan was the first to speak, “Hello, my friends. What brings you two here? Forgive me, but you are obviously not frequent customers.”

 

Dar smiled disarmingly, "Yeah, I guess we do seem pretty out-of-sorts. My name's Nien Dar and this is-”

 

"Maki? You're Sine's family?" the selan interrupted, face relaxing in comprehension.

 

"You know our sister?" I said, stepping forward.

 

"Yes, of course I know her," he said, eyes flicking to the right. I helped her copy out some of my maps just yesterday. Seemed urgent, you feel? Is everything alright?"

 

Dar leaned in. "Not exactly. Sine left last night, but she didn't tell us where she was going or that she was going anywhere at all."

 

The selan's brows furrowed, the corners of his mouth dipping down. "No! That doesn't sound like Sine at all. She adored you two, you feel? She would never leave without you."

 

"That's what we thought," I said. "We don't know why she left, and we don't know if something is wrong with her, which is why we're going after her. You say you know where she went, and you say she was your friend. If you really care about her, tell us what you told her and help us find her."

 

He nodded sharply. "Of course I will help! I will help however I can! I will write for you the maps I wrote for her and I'll take you over to Nileni. I'm going that way, so it's no trouble, but even if it were out of my way I'd still take you. But before we get to my ship," he continued, "I know your names, but you do not know mine. This is an inequality which must be rectified, you feel, you feel?" He grinned, eyes gleaming, "I am Karsen. It’s wonderful to meet you both again."


End file.
